The answer to Nigeria’s power needs will be found in your mobile phone

THE complex dilemma of how to power Nigeria dominates politics and economics, yet hundreds of thousands of people are discovering the answer is to literally take power into their own hands.
This week, the Lumos (www.Lumos-Global.com) Mobile Electricity Service deployed its 60,000th Y’ello Box, an at-home solar electricity device that lets users gain access to reliable electricity at an affordable price.

The Lumos service is combining the power of the sun and your MTN mobile phone to bring a new type of power to Nigeria.
This significant milestone means more than 300,000 people right across Nigeria are now benefitting from affordable, reliable, clean electricity, thanks to the Lumos Mobile Electricity service ability to unleash the power of the mobile.
Mobile phones have transformed the way we spend our daily lives. In fact, a recent report declared Nigeria as the ‘world’s most mobilized country’ (http://apo.af/qD8dM5) with more mobile traffic than any other nation. With more and more mobiles, they not only drive our demand for more accessible and reliable power, but they can also help provide the solution.
Lumos Mobile Electricity Service operate in partnership with MTN. Once MTN customers have joined the service, they pay their monthly subscription fee for power from their MTN’s mobile phones air account by texting a simple code. There’s no need for mobile money, bank accounts or expensive machines. This is quick, easy, affordable, quiet and clean.
Mr. John Stephen Akpan, a farmer from Lagos State who purchased the 60,000th system said: “The Y’ello Box is making a big difference. I was using a noisy, polluting generator, but now that Lumos has arrived, my farm has been transformed instantly.
“I was surprised at how easy and quick the installation was, and that I was able to start using it straight away.”
Yuri Tsitrinbaum, CEO of Lumos Nigeria said: “The mobile revolution has transformed our need for power, and the mobile electricity service is also going to be a significant part of the answer.”
“The Nigerian economy will thrive if we give people the power they need to succeed. We cannot wait, and we need put power in everyone’s own hands.”
“At Lumos we have built a unique system that uses ground-breaking technology to harness the energy of the sun, capture and store it, and release it thanks to your mobile phone.”
“The energy mix in Nigeria is a complex issue which we all need to work together to solve. We believe we have created something fantastic that is bringing power to people’s homes and businesses like nothing else before.”